A Group, 27 April

Merstham - Ardingly - Fanny's

On a chill, spring morning at Merstham, the Wayfarers one by one entered Hunger's End until there was standing room only. However, when the starting whistle sounded, the Elizabethan Langshott Bs exerted a far greater gravitational pull than the negatively charged Ardingly As. "Sorry, Jeff, I'm saving myself for later", whispered a bashful clutch of timorous virgins. I must admit, those words brought back some wistful memories.

So it was that an uninhibited sextet of Brian, Bob, Ged, Geoffrey, Julian and Simon mounted up to follow a headstrong leader. All went smoothly until well past Nutfield, when the pressure proved too great for a weakening rear rim which split and demanded Brian's unwilling withdrawal and cautious retreat to Redhill Station. The rest pressed on to Outwood, Smallfield, Copthorne, Turner's Hill and West Hoathly. Here we stopped for a fleeting glimpse of the Priest House, being loth to pay a fee for entry to the house or garden. An impromptu exercise in democracy then led to a choice: pastoral calm or Armageddon. Two chose Armageddon; one we never saw again, lost somewhere in the depths of that cyclist's temptress, known starkly as "Cob Lane". The rest sailed serenely down through wood and field to stop at the Oak Inn, Ardingly, where a flushed and glowing Geoffrey awaited our arrival.

After a pleasant, garden lunch, we concluded that Bob had found his way to the one great Wetherspoons in the sky. We therefore went to pay our respects at the impressive yet unassuming Church of St Peter, Ardingly. On leaving, we enjoyed the swoop down to the reservoir and the swoosh up to Paddockhurst Lane, where GBS had to realign his rear wheel, forced out of true by a combination of slope and sinew. Thereafter, a steady canter took us via Turner's Hill, Copthorne, Smallfield, Redhill Aerodrome, Merstham and Harp's Oak Lane to Fanny's. Here we met Liz with some of her Bs, where we took a well-earned pot of tea and cake, before the final leg home, longer for some than others, for me a modest 58 miles, for others well over 70.

Jeff